All in a Days Work
by OrangeFanana
Summary: The Hero of Time is good for lots of things: Slaying monsters, saving princesses, and especially saving cats from trees. Oneshot.


A little girl ran through the market, her brown braids trailing behind her. Her worn blue dress had patches fixed by a crude hand, for the seams were already breaking. She had no shoes, and her feet were dirty. She was laughing, chasing her scrawny cat. The cat had come to her home some time ago, sick and hungry. The girl had given it food, and it had stayed ever since.

A woman chased after her, most likely her mother. The mother also had brown hair, but it was in a messy bun. She had on an apron, and her hands had bits of dough on them. She worked in a bakery for a red rupee every hour. It was good work, and the woman enjoyed it immensely. She kept calling out to her child, hoping she would stop. But her daughter didn't, and continued to chase the family cat.

The cat, a black and white tabby, was weaving through the thick crowds. One of the customers at the bakery had brought a dog along, supposedly trained and with no leash. But one look at the napping cat sent the dog into a frenzy. The dog had lost its interest a while ago, but the cat still ran on.

The child had finally caught up to the cat, but before she could catch the animal, the cat had snaked up a tree. It sat on a thick branch, with no intentions to come down soon. Its claws dug into the bark, steadying itself.

The girl tried to climb the tree, but no branches were low enough. By the time her mother came, the girl looked to be on the verge of crying. The mother tried to comfort her, saying that they could get her daddy to come help them. But it didn't help, and soon tears streaked down her face.

However, strolling down the street was a man everybody knew. His green tunic signaled him out as the Hero of Time, as did the floppy hat and blue eyes. Blonde hair peeked out from under his hat, just brushing his eyes. A sword and a shield were strapped on his back, expertly staying on. He could not have been more than seventeen years old.

As he walked down the street, his hawk-like eyes quickly saw the weeping girl. Burrowing his eyebrows together, he made his way over to the mother and daughter. The mother, upon seeing the Hero, hurriedly straightened up, trying to make herself presentable. But he just smiled at her, telling her she didn't have to do that.

The Hero went to the crying little girl, and bent down, asking, "What's wrong?" His voice was curious, and everybody knew he would do anything to help the girl.

"M-my kitty g-got stuck in a tree!" she sobbed, pointing at her cat, which was still in the tree.

The Hero looked to where she was pointing, and saw the cat, now licking its paw. He frowned slightly, and without saying anything, he approached the tree. Putting a hand on the trunk, the Hero analyzed the plant. Then, he backed up, his eyes still locked on the tree. He tensed, and suddenly leapt forward. His right boot hit the tree, and the Hero used it to launch himself upwards. His fingers just caught a branch, and he used his strength to pull himself up onto the branch.

Sitting on a branch, the Hero saw that the cat was a bit higher up than he was. Looking up, he swung his legs on the branch, than shakily stood up. He grabbed the next branch, and started to climb up the tree.

Once he was on the same branch of the cat, he scooted over closer to the animal. He grabbed the cat around its stomach, and tried to pull it off the branch. However, it was quite stubborn and wouldn't let go. But the Hero was stubborn as well, and kept on pulling. With one last grunt and pull from the hero, the cat finally came free of the branch.

But with the unexpected release, the Hero went stumbling backwards, and off the branch. People who had gathered to watch their hero gasped as he fell backwards off the tree. The little girl covered her eyes, afraid to see what had happened. But moments passed, and there was no screaming. The girl peeked open an eye, and saw much to her surprise the hero was still alive. He was hanging upside-down by his legs, his hat on the ground. Blonde hair swayed in the wind, covering his hylian ears. The cat was still in his arms, clawing into his tunic, which thankfully had chain metal underneath.

The crowd laughed, while the Hero just smiled with a hint of red on his cheeks. Looking down, he saw no branches were in his way. He looked back at the crowd, an evil grin spreading on his face. He started to swing back and forth, cat still in his arms. Just as the crowd stopped laughing, he slipped his legs off the branch. The crowd gasped again as he went flying through the air. But just as they thought he was dead, he flipped over and landed on his feet with a grunt.

The mass of people clapped and some even cheered as his feet touched the ground. Straightening up, he blew his hair out of his face. Ignoring the crowd, he strolled over to the girl, bent down, and gave her back her cat. As soon as she had the cat in her arms, she squealed happily and hugged the animal close to her chest. The cat didn't do anything, too dizzy to try to claw its way out of the tight embrace.

The Hero walked over to where his hat had fallen and shoved it back onto his head. He brushed his hair out of the way, which thankfully stayed there. He started to continue to his walk through the market, but a small hand grabbed his. He turned around to see the little girl smiling up at him.

"Thanks for saving my kitty, Mr. Hero!" she burst out, happily holding the cat with one hand. She smiled wide, her front teeth missing.

"No problem. And call me Link," he responded, winking at her. He returned the smile, then turned around and started to amble through Castle once more as if nothing had happened.

The crowd soon began to disperse, already spreading gossip. The little girl stood there for a second, amazed. Then, a smile came upon her lips, and she began to skip through the crowd with her cat, leaving behind her mother behind once again.

**Ain't that cute?**

**Review!**


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